The debate was over whether to put masks on, but the gloves were certainly off in a tense exchange between Senator Rand Paul and Dr. Anthony Fauci Thursday.
In a Senate committee hearing on the COVID-19 pandemic, the Kentucky Republican accused the nation’s top infectious disease expert of wearing a mask “for show” since he has already been vaccinated for COVID-19 and questioned why top public health officials have said Americans may need to wear masks into 2022 if they have developed immunity from the virus.
“You’re telling everybody to wear a mask whether they’ve had infection or a vaccine,” Paul said to Fauci during a hearing of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. “What I’m saying is that they have immunity, and everybody agrees they have immunity, what studies do you have that people who have had the vaccine or people who have had the infection are spreading the infection? If we’re not spreading the infection, isn’t it just theater? You’ve had the vaccine and you’re wearing two masks, isn’t that theater?”
“No it’s not,” a visibly frustrated Fauci responded. “Here we go again with the theater. Let’s get down to the facts.”
Fauci then explained that the studies Paul cited about reinfection don’t factor in the threat of variants.
“When you talk about reinfection and you don’t keep in the concept of variants, that’s an entirely different ballgame,” Fauci said. “That’s a good reason for a mask.”
Guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says people who have been fully vaccinated should still wear face coverings in public, but they can go maskless among small, private gatherings of other vaccinated or low-risk households.
Fauci said he agreed with Paul that if someone is infected with the wild-type, or prevalent strain of the virus, they are likely to be protected from that type for at least six months. But he went on to cite a study that found for those who had been infected with the wild-type and had then been exposed to the South African variant, it was “as if they had never been infected before,” Fauci said.
“But we in our country now have variants that are circulating,” Fauci said, adding that we don’t have prevalence of a variant yet, but one ― the UK variant — is “becoming more dominant.”
Paul accused Fauci of making “policy based on conjecture,” while Fauci said the policy was not based on conjecture, but on things that are not certain yet.
“You want people to wear masks for another couple years,” Paul said. “You’ve been vaccinated and you parade around in two masks for show. … You’re defying everything we know about immunity by telling people to wear masks if they have been vaccinated.”
“Let me just state for the record that masks are not theater,” Fauci replied. “Masks are protective.”
“If you have immunity, they are theater,” Paul responded. “If you already have immunity, you’re wearing a mask to give comfort to others. You’re not wearing a mask because of any science.”
“I totally disagree with you,” Fauci said.
“If I vaccinate you or me against the wild-type you get a certain level of antibody that’s specific for a particular viral strain,” Fauci continued. “If there’s a circulating variant, you don’t necessarily have it. You have some spillover immunity to be sure, but you diminish, by anywhere from two- to eight-fold, the protection. So the point I’m saying is that there are variants now circulating.”
The three vaccines that have been approved for emergency use by the Food and Drug Administration were effective at preventing severe illness and death in studies.
Fauci and Paul have sparred in hearings for months over COVID-19 measures. Last May, Paul criticized Fauci for saying he does not think schools should reopen in the fall, telling him: “As much as I respect you, Dr. Fauci, I don’t think you’re the end-all. I don’t think you’re the one person that gets to make a decision.”
Watch the full exchange:
Amanda Kaufman can be reached at amanda.kaufman@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @amandakauf1.
"exchange" - Google News
March 19, 2021 at 05:40AM
https://ift.tt/30Wxt4l
In heated exchange, Senator Paul accuses Dr. Fauci of wearing masks after being vaccinated 'for show' - The Boston Globe
"exchange" - Google News
https://ift.tt/3c55nbe
https://ift.tt/3b2gZKy
Exchange
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "In heated exchange, Senator Paul accuses Dr. Fauci of wearing masks after being vaccinated 'for show' - The Boston Globe"
Post a Comment